Break Point
by Reptilian Rob
Summary: Garrus is captured on a routine Merc bust by the brother of an old enemy. Shepard fears the worst, wanting nothing but revenge and blood. However, she may yet still be able to rescue her best friend and lover.


**ABOARD THE SR2**

Shepard looked across her bed, where Garrus usually was. He wasn't there tonight though, and he may not ever be again. It was a solemn thought; perhaps the last she would ever see of Garrus was the Blue Suns hauling him into their bunker.

It was only earlier today when they received the distress beacon from an unknown source on the planet Trident. The water world was known for its pirate culture, nothing new for the crew of the Normandy SR2. The pirates would set up a beacon planet side, and then when a military vessel came to investigate, the merc band that had set up the false beacon would spring their ambush. Taking whatever they could plunder before the vessel called for aid. It usually ended with a few dead or wounded concerning anyone else, but never so for the SR2's crew. They had mercs down to a calculated science; at least Shepard thought they did up until this point in time. It was different today, and the fact that she lost the one person she cared about most had her seething with wrath. It was inconceivably harsh, a reality she didn't want to return to. Sprawling her arms across the placid sheets, her head buried in thought. Shepard wanted to cry, but she couldn't, Garrus wasn't there anymore, no one to cry WITH. All that floated around in her exaggerated thoughts were the days events, it consumed her to the point of agonizing obsession.

When the SR2's Kodiak shuttle landed on Trident's raised docks to investigate the beacon there weren't any mercs to be found. Shepard and Thane circled up around the beacon as Garrus prodded through the wiring in order to disable the device. It was second hand nature to him, even as a child he was taking apart beacons and omni-tools just to assembling them back together. About halfway through the splicing of wires and network tapping the trap was sprung. The beacon was placed around numerous raised buildings, constructed to the point where Trident's roaring currents couldn't tear their foundations asunder. The problem in this situation however was that it meant the mercs had the high ground, at least eighty foot elevation.

Dozens of Blue Suns Mercs repelled down the sidewalls of the buildings, unloading wildly from the hip with their Avenger assault rifles. While finishing the last tap ups on the beacon Garrus was hit in the chest with a round that punctured his armor before he could return fire, he lay there unconscious. Before Shepard could grab Garrus by the back fringe of his armor Thane had already grabbed her own arm. Thane kept shouting "Come Siha, there is nothing we can do." Thane saw Garrus go down hard; in the heat of the moment he thought the round had cleared through Garrus' heart. In reality the round only punctured his left chest, missing all vital organs. As Shepard watched from the Kodiak she could see the Blue Suns Mercs hauling Garrus into one of the buildings, and see his eyes open. She was shouting frantically "He's alive, we have to go back! Turn this fucking shuttle around, now!" Thane was holding her tightly; he kept telling her that they were too small an army to handle that many mercs and that Garrus was probably already dead. Even with Shepard's unsurpassed combat abilities, and Thanes knowledge of how to kill whom in what way, they were still a far cry from the strength they would need to take down the entire Trident Blue Suns HQ.

And so there she sat, alone in her quarters starring at the fish Garrus had bought her for her cabin's tank. She wondered if he was dead, if he was alive or hurt. But the thought that kept crossing her mind in multitude was how she was going back, to kill every single one of those bastards. They would pay, and Trident would bleed Blue Suns blood that would taint the oceans.

**TRIDENT BASE ALPHA**

Garrus woke up on a cold metal table; he was stripped of his armor, of everything. He attempted to rise off the table only to find his hands, legs and chest restrained by large metal clamps. Another clamp was placed above his head, unlatched. He looked over to where he had been hit; the wound was patched professionally. A Batarian merc walked over to Garrus, looking down at him.

"Look who we have here, Garrus Vakarian. The famed Archangel, what an honor! You don't know who I am do you?"

Garrus was looking up at the Batarian with confused eyes, feeling a tad queasy.

"Do I care? You're going to be dead either way once Shepard gets a hold of you."

"Oh, I think you're quite safe in here from any help whatsoever. We're a mile underwater with a signal dampener; no one is coming for you Turian. You see I'm the brother of Tarik, but you can call me "Anron." You killed MY brother on Omega, Turian, and I'm going to make you wish you were dead for it."

Garrus' stomach immediately sank into his gut. But he had to look unaffected, strong. A Krogan bodyguard walked up to Anron and stood beside him.

"Ah, yes. Meet my good friend here, Trox. He hasn't had a good mate in ages; perhaps I should let him have his way with you? I hear wonderful things about Turian flexibility and reach.

Garrus could only manage out of his mouth a stifled "fuck you." Anron walked over to a chair and pulled it next to the right side of Garrus' face.

"I think in that aspect he would be doing the fucking, Turian. But if I handed you over to Trox, then I would be denying myself the pleasure of treating your scars."

Anron started to pull back the bandage that was placed over his scars, still not fully healed.

"It looks like you've got a bad case of scarring, what a shame. A fine Turian like you should look your best at all times!"

Garrus could see that Anron was now holding a large scalpel, which made Garrus immediately try and break free of his bonds. He looked over at it; the blade was small, made for precision cuts. It was so sharp that the outer edges reflected the light across the room. Garrus felt Anorn slam his head to the back of the table, holding it there. He clamped down the metal restraint above his head. At this point Garrus had started to panic on the inside, but true to his nature he didn't let it show.

"Wouldn't want you to move, I may accidentally cut you. You and I are going to have quite the night. So just lay back and try not to scream too much."

**ABOARD THE SR2**

Shepard was in the armory packing the largest weapons she could find on her back. Widow Anti-Material rifle, Geth Shotgun, Reverent Heavy Machine Gun, Phalanx Pistol and the CAIN. She had wrath ablaze in her eyes, she was going to find them, and she was going to leave nothing left. Every weapon she was grabbing had a "Hyper Lethal" rating and she didn't care one bit. If she had to vaporize the entire planet she would. Just as she was about to exit for the shuttle bay Thane walked into the room.

"Shepard, I would like to accompany you."

"Why is that Thane? Looking for closure of your own?"

Shepard took a deep breath, Thane didn't deserve that last verbal sting.

"I know how it is to loose a loved one Siha, I will not let this atrocity be brought upon you. First my lover, then my son, but NOT Garrus."

"Thank you Thane, that means a lot. But to tell you the truth, I've already accepted the fact that Garrus is dead, this is just clean up and closure of my own."

"I feel he is alive, I made the mistake, his spirit my be broken, but his body lives."

Shepard looked at Thane with a pained expression, he was always correct about situations like these. Never once were his predictions wrong or off, he must be connected to an aura or something of the sorts. Shepard always wondered why that was. He'd definitely been through more than most. Perhaps it was a mentality of judgment he had built up over the years, or maybe he did have the guise to predict events in time. Shepard could never tell, but it called her.

"We're going to need more than just us then, I'm calling Grunt for back up. He should have been there when we landed on Trident yesterday, none of this would have happened."

"Not even a Krogan could have turned the tide, Siha. But perhaps this time will be different."

Thane and Shepard walked down to engineering to fetch Grunt, Shepard was already feeling glee at the thought of the annihilation she would rain on Trident.

**TRIDENT BASE ALPHA**

Garrus was still lying on the table strapped down, the entire right side of his face riddled with cuts and blue blood. He was exhausted from the previous night, no matter how much he screamed and tried to break from of the metal clamps the knife kept cutting away. He couldn't go on much longer, not like this. Anron was still standing in the room, now readying a large syringe.

"Vakarian, how are you feeling? You don't look so good."

Garrus could barely talk, but managed to whisper what he was thinking. He was weak, and just wanted to sleep.

"You're a real bastard…"

"Perhaps, but I have something that is going to make you feel so much better!"

Garrus could see Anron now screwing on a very large needle to the syringe. For the first time in his life he was genuinely scared.

"What, what's that for?"

"Oh, just something to help ease the pain. Actually it's going to be the most painful thing you've ever experienced. This is Thresher Maw venom, I'll be injecting you with it and for the next six hours you will be in utter agony."

Garrus started to struggle again, a look of terror on his face.

"Now now, Garrus, don't struggle! I wont be able to find a vein!"

Anron held Garrus' restrained chest down with his hand, looking for a vein.

"There we go, right here by the stomach! Hold still."

Garrus was trying to squirm, but he couldn't, not with all those metal restraints. He could feel the needle going into his vein. He writhed in the restraints, he couldn't bare it, the needle was being forcefully inserted cutting through his veins with force.

"STOP!"

"I'm not going to stop, not until you're blithering like a child."

Garrus felt the warn liquid enter him and the needle retract.

"I'll be leaving you now, enjoy yourself. It's going to be the worst six hours of your life."

Anron left the room and Garrus lay there with a bloody arm. He was slightly moaning when in hit him. The pain was like his whole body was on fire. He couldn't move, he couldn't do anything but scream. It just kept coming, the pain, the horror of not being able to do anything. He was broken, and three hours into his screaming agony, he began to cry. Everybody, no matter how much you trained to resist it, no matter how much pain you thought you could take, everyone had his or her breaking point, and when they reach it, all they want is the end.

**ABOARD THE KODIAK DROP SHUTTLE**

Shepard was now lazily drifting planet side in the Kodiak shuttle, Thane and Grunt opposite to her.

"So Shepard, are we going to crush some heads today?"

Grunt already had that look in his eyes, the eyes of an unstoppable force. Typical Krogan mentality before a heated battle, although Grunt had a childish way about it as always.

"Tell you what Grunt, you can do whatever you want to these mercs. It's open season. I'm not in a particularly caring mood."

"Haha! Just what I wanted to hear!"

Thane has his eyes closed, as he usually did before battle, meditating silently.

"Do not hasten the death, but make it clean."

"Ah, you're no fun Krios. I'm going to step on their heads until they crack! Merc blood always looks better when it's in pools!"

Shepard readied the Widow rifle, motioning for the pilot to set altitude. She shouldered the enormous rifle and scoped in, spotting a dozen or more mercs patrolling the onset platform. Death from above.

**TRIDENT BASE ALPHA**

Garrus was yet still strapped to the table, he was beaten, broken and wanted an end. He wished he was back in his bed in the SR2, he wished he was back in the arms of Shepard. The last four days had been utterly brutal. First the scalpel to his scars, then the Thresher Maw venom, the next day Anron took pleasure in breaking his right arm slowly and just yesterday he had his Krogan bodyguard apply Krogan torture techniques. He was covered in his own blood and weak. He couldn't even speak when Anron walked in, a crooked smile etched across his face in delight.

"Do you want it to end Turian? Do you want to die?"

Garrus couldn't answer, but his mind was saying, "Please, please."

"I'll tell you what, I'll end your suffering. But it isn't going to be pleasant. I'm going to start by slowly opening you up, then I'm…..

A Merc walked into the room mid sentence, pressing his hand against his helmet to initiate a comm. channel.

"Sir, team two hasn't checked in. All lines are black on the loading deck up top and I'm not getting a signal from alpha or delta squads."

Anron looked at the Merc with dominant eyes, rolling them.

"Well then, go find out you idiot! I don't pay you to tell me the obvious!"

"Sir yes sir!"

The merc headed for the elevator with his Carifex pistol in hand. Anron turned back to Garrus

"Now, let me go get my drill."

**ABOARD THE KODIAK DROP SHUTTLE**

Shepard's first shot connected with the patrolling guard who was pacing lazily on the side railing near the edge of the landing pad, a fine red mist was all that was left. Each shot rattled her body, but she didn't stop. The next guard, who was looking where the cload of red mist was hanging, was hit so hard he flew into the raging sea. The entire base poured out Blue Sons mercs a moment later, thirty or so rushed out onto the deck. Only one way to clear out that many foot mobiles. She readied the CAIN, and held down the trigger.

"Watch the back blast!"

Both Thane and Grunt had turned their heads to avoid the blinding light that was to come. The "thunk" of the round as it launched was followed by a massive white light, most of Blue Suns mercs below were instantly vaporized; others were thrown off the platform by the shockwave. As the mushroom cloud rose from the ground, the entire landing pad had been crystallized with black and green char.

"Go in, now!"

Shepard, Grunt, and Thane repelled down the Kodiak's sidewalls and onto the deck. Shepard was all but ready to kill anyone who was in her way. A lone Blue Suns merc who had his boots melted to the deck by the blast was looking at them. Shepard approached with a quickening pace and looked him in the eyes with her own.

"You're going to tell me where they are keeping the Turian, understand?"

"No way, burn in hell you bitch!"

"You tell me now, or I melt more than your boots."

Shepard Grabbed Grunt's Firestorm projector and pointed it at the merc.

"Whoa lady! Easy with the pyrotechnics! All I know is that he's down the elevator behind me about a mile. The only way to get down there is that elevator over there."

The merc pointed to a reinforced ceramic titanium elevator that was tucked away near a pillar holding the landing pad above the water.

"Thanks."

Shepard took out her pistol and gave the merc one round to the head.

**TRIDENT ALPHA BASE**

Anron had Garrus held down, lining up a tiny drill to his head when he heard the blast from the CAIN.

"Ahhhh! What the hell was that! I'm trying to work here! Someone give me a damn sitrep!"

He lowered the drill; Garrus still in mild tears for what about to be unfolded upon him.

"I'll be back Vakarian, and when I return I'm going to scramble your brains."

Anron was walking to the elevator when the doors blew off; the two guards at the doors were thrown back. Grunt walked out of the smoke and grabbed one of the downed elevator guards by the neck. He placed his Claymore heavy shotgun into the mercs gut and pulled the trigger. What was left Grunt threw to the side and slowly walked forward towards the other guard. He fired at Grunt, but he kept coming, smashing his face into the wall leaving a blood-splattered indentation of skull fragments and brain matter. Anron's Krogan bodyguard who was in the back room was now rushing them, but Thane had already snuck behind. He jumped on the Krogan's back and jammed his knife deep beneath his crest and pulled up with a slight twist of force. The plate popped off and as the Krogan roared in frustration and pain Thane placed two bullets into the Krogan's unshielded head. He fell to the floor just and Thane jumped off.

Anron was running from the room when Shepard appeared in front of him aiming down the sites of her rifle.

"Who the hell are you? Some crazy bitch who thinks she's out the stop the Blue Suns?"

"Where is Garrus."

"Go to hell. He's MINE."

That simply word was all it took to snap Shepard's will in half, she was now all but primal.

Shepard placed her boot upside his left cheek, knocking him to the floor.

"You, you think you can just waltz in here and start blowing shit up! I'll have your head, no; I'll have you thrown to the sea!

Anron rose to his feet and threw a punch in Shepard's direction, she grabbed the offending arm and broke it.

"You bitch! You're dead!"

Shepard took her pistol and shot both his kneecaps, one of the legs hung by just a tendon or two. She should have made him suffer, but she raised her Reverent rifle and held downthe trigger. What was left of Anron's body looked like a carved up skeleton.

Garrus thought he heard Shepard's voice, but it couldn't have been. He must have been dead and the spirits were trying to calm his passing. But he mustered up just enough remaining strength to call out.

"Shepard?..."

Shepard heard Garrus' voice, it sounded weak. She rushed to a room filled with a metal table, Garrus on it.

"Garrus! Oh no, no. What did they do to you!"

Garrus could just look at her, tears running down his face.

"Come on Garr, we're leaving."

Shepard lifted him off the table as Thane and Grunt covered their exit to the elevator, the doors barely closing from being blown off. Once the lift reached topside Shepard ran to the shuttle closely followed by a flanking Grunt and Thane. They were outside, rain was pouring down on Garrus, whose wounds started to throb. He was in so much pain, but Shepard was there, the agony seemed to come and go when he thought about it. As they entered the shuttle Shepard was still holding Garrus close, who's eyes were starting to close.

"Garrus, stay with me! Come on Garr! You have to stay awake!"

Garrus was trying his best, he really was. But when the shuttle entered the SR2's hanger he couldn't keep them open any longer.

"Garr! Come on! We're here, we're here, and don't you dare think of dying on me Garrus!"

Chakwas was waiting with a crash cart and an IV. Garrus was still alive, but he was in for one hell of a night. He lost consciousness just as he was brought into the med bay.

**ABOARD THE SR2**

Garrus wasn't the same for weeks. He was limping the good part of the first couple of days back on the SR2. The entire crew was thoughtful and kind to him the entire way through his recovery though. Even Joker went out of his way to attempt at being something less that his usual sarcastically joking self. He knew the kind of shit mercs like that did to people.

"Garrus, you ok?"

Garrus was sitting at one of the SR2's bridge terminals sleeping when Joker approached him.

"Oh, yeah. Just tiered."

"You need anything you let me know, I'm your man, no matter how many bones I'll break doing it!"

"Thanks, Jeff."

He had been having trouble sleeping. Every so often he would wake up at night sweating, taking a few moments to realize it was Shepard's quarters or somewhere on the SR2 he nodded off at. The fish tank was there, the soft bed, he wasn't on Trident anymore. He would snuggle close to Shepard at night as well, it made him feel safe, and Shepard would always hold him close when he woke up. Tonight was one of those nights; Garrus had just gotten out of the shower and was sitting on the edge of the bed grappling the sheets with his hands. His feet were curled up and he head was looking down to the floor. Shepard was already in bed, and crawled up behind him.

"Garr, you going to be alright?"

"I was scared Shepard, I don't want to admit it, but I was."

"It's ok Garrus, I would have been too."

"I didn't think you were coming."

"Garr, I wouldn't leave you anywhere, you know that sweetie!"

"He was going to kill me Shepard, right before you showed up. He had the drill right there on my temple, he was going to…"

He started to choke up and turned to the other side of the bed, away from Shepard. He felt ashamed, he was a Turian, he was Garrus! How could he be this weak? Shepard held him tight, wrapping her arm around his chest.

"It's ok, you're with me. I wont let that happen again, it's my fault."

Garrus turned over to face Shepard.

"You know, you're the only person who cares about me…If I died back there nobody would have even missed me."

"That's not true! The entire crew was worried sick about you! We all care about you Garrus!"

"Why Shepard, why does this crap always happen to me? What happened to me!"

Garrus hugged Shepard as tight as he could manage. He was still extremely weak and just wanted to sleep.

"Garrus, I'm so sorry. But I wont let anything happen to you, ever again and I'll always be there."

"I know Shepard, I love you…and thanks for coming back for me."

Shepard turned off the lights, holding Garrus close to her. Garrus snuggled up against her with his back and held her hand as tightly as he could. Even though his scars were throbbing and his body weak, for the first time in a week and a half things felt like they were going to be ok.


End file.
